1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the fields of medicine, public health, immunology, molecular biology and virology.
2. Related Art
The arterial blood pressure of mammals is mostly controlled by a biochemical cascade known as the renin-angiotensin-System (RAS). It is initiated by the release of renin from the epitheloid cells of the juxtaglomerular apparatus of the kidney following a fall in arterial blood pressure. Renin enzymatically cleaves the peptide angiotensinogen (amino acid sequence: Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe-His-Leu-Val-Ile-His-Asn, SEQ ID NO: 15) which is secreted into the serum by the liver. This cleavage leads to the formation of the decapeptide angiotensin I (amino acid sequence: Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe-His-Leu, SEQ ID NO: 16). The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) which is present in the endothelium of the lungs cleaves within seconds the two C-terminal amino acids of ATI to give rise to angiotensin II (amino acid sequence: Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe, SEQ ID NO: 17). Whereas angiotensin I is very short lived within the body and has no or only mild vasoconstrictor activity, angiotensin II has a profound effect on the circulatory system as well as on the endocrine system. Elevated levels of RAS-activated angiotensin II cause vasoconstriction, renal retention of salt and water, both of which contribute to increased arterial pressure (hypertension) which can lead to cardiovascular damage. Possible clinical manifestations of hypertension are stroke, infarction, congestive heart failure, kidney failure or retinal hemorrhage.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), congestive heart failure is a major chronic disease for older adults, accounting for about 260,000 deaths a year in the US. In 1995, $3.4 billion was paid by Medicare for heart failure. Although drugs are available for the treatment of hypertension, control of hypertension is only obtained in around half of the treated hypertensive patients. This is partially due to non-compliance of the patient or ineffectiveness of the used drugs.
Current treatment of hypertension includes intervention of the RAS system using small organic molecules. Main targets are renin, ACE and the receptors for angiotensin II. ACE inhibitors include lisinopril®, captopril® and enalapril®, however, these drugs have not been entirely successful. Firstly they do not seem to entirely block ACE activity and secondly the generation by ACE of other biologically active peptides, including bradykinin, is also affected, which is undesirable. These drugs can induce side effects such as dry cough and a first dose hypotensive effect with dizziness and possible fainting. Angiotensin II receptor antagonists include losartan®, valsartan® and isbesaftan® which act specifically on the ATI angiotensin receptor; they therefore block the dominant vasoconstrictor effects of angiotensin II, and are better tolerated but do not affect other actions of the angiotensin hormones. However, angiotensin II receptor antagonists as well as ACE inhibitors need to be taken on a regular basis, often for long periods, such as for the majority of adult life which at least partially explains poor patient compliance. Therefore, there is a clear need for therapies of hypertension which are effective, well tolerated and connected with a high compliance of the patient.
A potential approach in treating or preventing diseases or disorders associated with the activity of a hormone is to neutralize the effects of the hormone within the patient by immunotherapy, i.e., by immunizing the patient against the hormone or enzymes which are involved in the generation of the hormone such that the activity of the hormone is neutralized or its levels are reduced by specific anti-hormone or anti-enzyme antibodies. Such antibodies may be exogenously administered in passive immunization or they may be generated in situ by active immunization using an immunogen based on the hormone or the relating enzyme.
The feasibility of vaccination against components of the RAS to modulate hypertension has been shown in animal models (for a review, see Michel, Am. Heart J. 117:756 (1989)). Vaccination against renin was effective in reducing blood pressure, however the animals suffered from autoimmune nephritis. (Michel et al., Circulation 81:1899 (1990); Lo et al., Hypertension 16:80 (1990)). Data on active immunization against homologous ACE is very limited. One report describes the vaccination of rabbits but only 1 out of 50 animals made detectable anti-ACE antibodies (Soffer, Fed. Proc. 42:2735 (1983)). Passive transfer of immune serum against ACE can decrease blood pressure in rabbits but leads to an immunoallergic response with pulmonary edema, possibly because ACE is expressed in a membrane-bound form in the lung (Cadwell, FEBS Lett. 63:82 (1976)). No reports are available on active immunization against angiotensinogen, however several studies explored the feasibility of vaccination against angiotensin I and angiotensin II. Two studies reported a blood pressure effect (Christlieb, J. Clin. Invest. 48:1506 (1969); Gardiner, Br. J. Pharmacol. 129:1178 (2000)) in vaccinated animals and no autoimmunity was noted. However the majority of vaccination studies with angiotensin peptides were negative, possibly because the induced titers against angiotensin peptides were too low or because the specificity of the induced antibodies was not optimal. It is likely that a vaccine which only targets angiotensin II does not have the same effect on the RAS as a vaccine which induces antibodies against angiotensin II as well as angiotensin I and possibly also the precursor angiotensinogen.
WO 98/58952 describes the treatment with a conjugate containing an angiotensin I conjugated to tetanus toxoid, which leads to the induction of angiotensin-specific antibodies in rats if applied in conjunction with an adjuvant such as aluminium hydroxide. Adjuvants are often toxic or at least irritating. The only adjuvants allowed for human use to date are mineral salts (aluminum hydroxide, aluminium phosphate, calcium phosphate) and virosomes. The adjuvant most frequently used in humans is aluminum hydroxide (Alum). Although it is considered as safe, it remains in the body for an extended period of time forming a depot. Consequences of such depot-formation are still poorly understood, therefore attempts should be made to avoid Alum in future vaccines without loosing their immunogenicity.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art to provide conjugates leading to the induction of high antibody titers even in the absence of adjuvants.